While construction has begun to continue on projects around Orlando, Comcast’s CFO Mike Cavanagh said that they aren’t going to move forward on Epic Universe until they can see where the economy is headed and when it starts to recover.

During the J.P. Morgan Investment Conference, done virtually, Cavanagh told those in attendance:

“All things considered, it’s a big capital swing, so better to really march forward with that when we have just a bit more visibility on what’s going on with the economy post-COVID. I can’t tell you when that’s going to be when we revisit it.”

They had announced they were holding off on it back in late April, and according to Mayor Demings the delay would likely push it back a year. Now they are stating they aren’t moving forward on it until they see some recovery to the overall economy.

Of course my first worry was that they were going to cancel it. Epic Universe was something we were really looking forward to as big Nintendo fans. Honestly Super Mario World added to the Harry Potter Wizarding World would give Universal Orlando a lot more leverage in the theme park rivalry in Orlando. But as of now they aren’t saying it’s cancelled, just delayed Cavanagh said:

“The confidence is high,” he said. “It’s a great project.”

Since they haven’t started building yet, he indicated that a delay wouldn’t cost more money, it would just delay the time frame.

Now we just have to wait and see when they move forward on it. Originally it was set to open in 2023, but we likely won’t see it until 2024 or later.

There is some good news for Universal Orlando as CityWalk is reopening today from 4PM-10PM and they are including their Universal Studios Store in that opening.

What do you think? Comment and let us know!

Source: Orlando Sentinel